Reading at 2:30 a.m. - Sunday Salon

Waking too early.

Listening to light rain bouncing off the roof drains, I reach for my phone. Too early to play my word game- the new one isn’t up as yet. The other games don’t interest me right now. 

My phone shows me the ebooks I have partially read. Which one to start again, to put me back to sleep, maybe? 

Do I want to follow that penurious artist in the French countryside village who has returned to his room at the inn, having been discharged from the hospital after cutting off his own ear in a mental frenzy? Sounds like Van Gogh’s story. 

Or do I want to get on the motorcycle of a rider in Italy who doesn’t know how to control his vehicle in busy streets?  Or perhaps visit the writers trapped with a murderer on a small, privately owned Greek island? 

Decide on a motorcycle ride in Italy? Not very sleep inducing, but it suits my present mood. 

I opt instead to get up and write this Sunday post.

Books that didn't help me get back to sleep

Madame Sorel's Lodger by Tracy Wise, Publication Feb. 4, 2025, Type Eighteen Books, NetGalley

I am enjoying reading about the Artist who stays in a little French village called A-, at Madame Sorel's lodgings, gets up to paint all day in the fields overlooking a farm, and drinks at the nearby inn. The Artist is short of money, relies on his brother in Paris to send him funds. I'm at the point where the Artist, who is subject to strange buzzing in his head that sends him almost mad, has cut off his ear in one of his frenzies, and just returned from the hospital.  

Sounds like the Artist might be modeled after the life of Van Gogh. I'll keep on reading.

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman, Publication: July 15, 2025; William Morrow, NetGalley

I do like mysteries set on Greek islands!

Several writers have been invited by Argos to his secluded island, to take part in a writing retreat, the second one he has organized over the years.

However, Argos is found dead when the writers arrive and they find themselves stranded on the island with no radio contact with the mainland or outside world. This is a classic locker-room type mystery and I don't know where it's going, but the writers are on the island with a murderer! 

Code Word Romance by Carlie Walker, March 18, 2025; Berkley, NetGalley

I love setting and the plot. When the CIA offers would-be chef Max a deal, five milliion dollars to pretend to be Sofia, a female prime minister on her annual Italian vacation, cash strapped Max doesn't hesitate and heads for the Amalfi coast in Italy. The book opens with a chase, when Max on a bike is being chased by the mafia who want her dead. 

The three books above that I tried to read in the early morning, did not put me back to sleep. Instead they got me going to my office to write this Can't Sleep post.

Note: The ebooks above are all ARCs from NetGalley, and not yet published or available in libraries or bookstores.  

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

Sunday Salon: First Post of 2025 - Books, of course

 My first post in a new blog for 2025! BookBirdDog (Book Dilettante) has been retired, and I'm starting anew. 

Welcome to  my new blog:  Harvee Reads

How did I start the new year, apart from starting a new blog? 

I am still a huge NetGalley fan, and don't mind reading advance copies of books. They are, after all, the writers' galleys before final editing and final print, and their own words matter a lot to me before they are polished and possibly changed by editors and publishers.

 My planned January reads? Books soon to be published this month.

To Have and To Hold by Lilly French

a psychological thriller with a dramatic ending

To be published Jan. 17, 2025; NetGalley

Description: Emma and Luke seem to have a perfect marriage until Emma discovers a hotel receipt in Luke's pocket. This leads to at a secluded, supposedly romantic weekend for the two. 

Unfortunately the goodreads readers rated the thriller only 2.43 stars.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen 

Publication Jan. 14, 2025; Minotaur; NetGalley

Setting: Icelandic winter landscape

Description: A young girl, Agnes, returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a murder in her family forty years previously. Is it a coincidence a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes is in Iceland? A thriller packed with plot twists.

Strange Pictures by Uketsu is described as horror, mystery and thriller, adult fiction. I don't normally read horror novels but I'm intrigued by this Japanese  mystery. The strange pictures have a backstory that connects them. 

Publication: Jan. 14, 2025, HarperVia, NetGalley

I have to find some lighter reading inbetween those three thrillers. 

Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter

Publication: Jan. 14, 2025; Berkley, NetGalley

Description: a romance with a Meet-Cute trope begins with a stolen latte that Amy spills all over the dress shirt of the man in line behind her

Will I actually read all three thrillers? Depends on how far I get into each book and if they hold my attention.

In My Mailbox

Sunlight Playing over a Mountain by Selina Li Bi

Publication: April 1, 2025; Soho Teen ARC

Description: A lyrical, mythology-tinged debut novel about a Chinese-Filipino teenager whose world of daydreams is destroyed by a family secret. Selina Li Bi’s magical debut perfectly portrays the pain of growing up in a less-than-magical world and introduces a remarkable new voice in young adult fiction.

I'm interested in the mythology in this YA novel.

Please visit Mailbox Monday at I'd Rather Be Reading at the Beach, each week to see books bloggers received. 

 

What are you reading or watching this wintry day? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday